The Wildlife Trusts are at the forefront of bringing back beavers and the lost landscapes that were once their home.

It's official - beavers are back! Good news from Scotland here - beavers officially recognised as a native species and existing populations allowed to remain. Support the Devon beaver project in England! The latest from news on beavers in Wales is here.

“A landscape with wild beavers re-established is wonderful to experience. Small, insignificant streams are transformed into cascading mosaics of dams, pools and wetlands, all providing new homes for all sorts of native wildlife, from dragonflies, fish and frogs to water voles, otters and water birds. Beavers would bring our streams, rivers and wetland habitats back to life, managing them perfectly for wildlife and people.”

Adrian Lloyd Jones, Welsh Beaver Project / Prosiect Afancod Cymru

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is a large herbivore, a mammal that was formerly native to these shores and once played an important part in our landscape from prehistoric times until it was hunted to extinction in the 16th century for its fur, meat and scent glands. The loss of this charismatic species also led to loss of the mosaic of lakes, meres, mires, tarns and boggy places that it so brilliantly built.

Film of Devon's wild beaver kits taken by Tom Buckley, who spent many weeks waiting patiently to capture this footage. These wild kits are a boost to the River Otter Beaver Trial, which began in Spring of 2015, led by Devon Wildlife Trust in partnership with landowner Clinton Devon Estates, the University of Exeter and the Derek Gow Partnership.